Sometimes the best business investments are those that turn personal. This spring, Bernard Chiu, Boston entrepreneur extraordinaire, is setting his sights on one of his favorite happy places and dedicating much of it to two of his most beloved people.
After buying the iconic Harbor View Hotel on Martha’s Vineyard, the founder and chairman of Upland Capital Corporation is pouring $15 million into reimagining the property. That will come with two new restaurants—Bettini Restaurant and Roxana Bar— both named after his daughters. To oversee all things food at the resort, Chiu scored a major hire in executive chef Patrice Martineau, previously of London’s Savoy Hotel, DANIEL in New York and the Peninsula Tokyo.
“Martineau’s bringing his international five-star skills to the island, but also his expertise with local foods and seafood,” says Chiu. To that end, Martineau be working with the island’s fishermen, foragers and farms to serve ingredients exclusively caught, found or grown for the resort’s two eateries. It will all show up in creative global tapas at Roxana Bar and seafood-centric American dishes at Bettini.
Chiu, a summer resident of the island for years, says he chose to name the two restaurants after his daughters (also entrepreneurs) with an eye toward immortalizing them alongside the names of male whaling captains that appear all over the island. “To me,” he says, “there’s nothing better than recognizing and celebrating the strong women who are forces in our community.” Harbor View Hotel, 131 N. Water St., Edgartown, 508.627.7000, harborviewhotel.com
Photography by: FOOD PHOTO BY ELIZABETH CECIL; CHEF PATRICE MARTINEAU PHOTO BY DAVID WELCH
